\"Ain't No Sunshine\" is a song by Bill Withers from his 1971 album Just As I Am, produced by Booker T. Jones. The record featured musicians Donald \"Duck\" Dunn on bass guitar, Al Jackson Jr. on drums and Stephen Stills on guitar. String arrangements were done by Booker T. Jones, and recorded in Memphis by engineer Terry Manning. The song is in the key of A minor.
The song was released as a single in 1971, becoming a breakthrough hit for Withers, reaching number six on the U.S. R&B Chart and number three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Billboard ranked it as the No. 23 song for 1971.
Withers, then thirty-one years old, was working at a factory making toilet seats for 747s at the time he wrote the song.
\"Ain't No Sunshine\" is ranked 285th on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.[
On the American Top 40 program of November 6, 1976, Casey Kasem reported that when the song went gold, the record company presented Withers with a golden toilet, marking the start of his new career.[
